


Following the Script

by Burrahobbit



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Aborted Undertale Genocide Run, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Palilalia Papyrus, Papyrus Remembers Resets, Papyrus-centric, Platonic Relationships, Post-Undertale Pacifist Route - "I want to stay with you."
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-26
Updated: 2016-11-26
Packaged: 2018-09-02 10:31:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8664307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burrahobbit/pseuds/Burrahobbit
Summary: "HEY, YOU SHOULD COME TO SNOWDIN AND VISIT ME! I'VE BEEN WORKING ON A FEW THINGS. A FEW SENTENCES TO STAND AROUND AND REPEAT."





	

**Author's Note:**

> Based on this: http://archiveofourown.org/works/7678144/chapters/17488957

_Breathe in, breathe out._  
_Breathe in, breathe out._  
_Breathe in..._

Papyrus picked mercilessly at his bones, making small indentations in them with his ungloved fingers. A knife would do so much better, but he couldn't force himself out of the corner of his room. His breathing had halted, so he took another careful, shuddering breath out.

It hadn't been that bad, he told himself, and yet...

And yet he'd almost broken down in front of everyone. It was all he could do to make it up into his room.

A small house party. Only a few people he'd never met. It wasn't even that loud.

_And yet..._

A particularly fierce scratch made his thoughts stop for a moment, before it was back to a dull ache.

They would all probably be wondering where he was - especially Sans. Papyrus couldn't let anyone find him like this.  
The thought of going back out there was more than he could take. His hands stopped in their tense movements, too shaky to properly scratch down the hard bones.

The young skeleton's voice was weak, and quiet - he'd long since learned how to keep it down during these episodes.  
The inflection was always the same, however, no matter at what volume he spoke.

"THAT BOOK'S ONE OF MY FAVORITES.

"YOU JUST HANG AROUND OUTSIDE YOUR STATION!

"A GREAT REFERENCE FOR THEORETICAL BATTLE SCENARIOS.

"I WANT TO LOOK MY SUNDAY BEST.

"I WILL BE THE ONE! I MUST BE THE ONE!"

He couldn't seem to stop. It was a bad habit of his, admittedly, but... Repeating the scripts, even just to himself, was somewhat of a comfort. It made everything uniform and familiar again.

As much as Papyrus disliked the resets, they had become a part of his life. And now, it came out in mumbled repetition when no one was around.

He just hoped it would eventually go away.

There was a small knock on his door, and his mumbling ceased for a few long moments. Papyrus had been hoping for more _time_.  
Apparently, those few moments were too long for the knocker, because the door started to creak open, revealing Frisk.

The tall monster scrambled to stop his scripts, to go back to normal, but he couldn't do anything about it.

"HALT, HUMAN."

Frisk's hand slid off the door handle, confusion obvious on their face as they stepped inside.

"Papyrus, what's-"

"HOWDY! IF IT ISN'T MY GOOD FRIEND, WHO TRUSTS ME."

His hands were trembling again at the thought of being found out. 

Carefully shutting the door behind them, the small human entered fully into the room. They looked as if they weren't sure what to say - or, if they should say what they want to.

"Are you alright?" Frisk asked first, slowly approaching the cowering skeleton.

Papyrus shoved his hands back into his gloves, attempting to think of an appropriate line before silently nodding.

Frisk stopped around a foot away from their friend, looking him over.

"What happened? You look scared."

"WOW! BEING A GOOD HOST IS A REAL WORKOUT!

Recognition spread across the child's features, something clicking within their mind.

"Wait, that's... But that's your _line_. On the date. In Snowdin. And the other ones..." Frisk covered their mouth with one hand.

Frisk seemed in between crying and running, and Papyrus suddenly felt even worse.

After composing themselves, Frisk took their hand from their mouth.

"How... How long have you known? About the resets, I mean."

The human knew, now, and they didn't look angry, so that was a plus.

Papyrus looked down at they floor and shrugged. There wasn't anything that he could really say here.

"Well, why are you repeating lines?"

"WATERFALL... I BARELY KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT IT, BUT I'LL DO MY BEST TO INFORM YOU!!!"

Frisk sat down next to him, biting their lip and thinking of what else to say.

"How do you even remember all this stuff? I'd forgotten most of it."

"I HAVE A PHOTO-GRAPHIC MEMORY FOR PHONE CALLS."

The two sat quietly for a while. The silence only ended when it was punctuated by a sob from the human.

Papyrus looked down at them with worry as tears filled Frisk's eyes.

"P-Papyrus... I'm s-sorry about everything. The resets, the... the killing people. I promise, I'm b-better now. Really."

Without a word, the skeleton held them in his arms, rubbing their back in what he assumed was a comforting manner. He couldn't be sure though - his boney hands could be a bother to others.

The human seemed to welcome his embrace, pushing their face into his shirt.

There was another knock on the door, this one startling them both. Frisk wiped at their eyes before shouting that the person could come in.

"Hey PUNKS!" Undyne shouted, rushing into the room. The music from downstairs floated into the room as Undyne gazed at them. "What happened?!"

Frisk wiped their eyes again, giving her a small smile. "We're fine. We'll be back down in a minute," they responded.

The fierce woman shut the door behind her, sitting down in front of the two. "You've been crying, haven't you?! What's got you so upset?"

There were no words coming to Frisk's mind. How were they going to explain something like this?  
They looked at Papyrus. The skeleton still wasn't sure if he could let himself speak.

"C'mon, what's up? You both got me worried now!"

There was another pause. "I- we just..."

"Undyne, we're alright," Papyrus offered softly, his voice hoarse.

The monster before them stared at his face - really looking at him.  
There was a tired look in Papyrus' eyes. He looked like he hadn't slept in several days. Her friend's shoulders were slouched, like he couldn't stand to hold them up. Some small scratches on his arms were partially visible, as were a few on his legs from a different time.

" _Fuck_ , Pap, you look like a wreck."

_Why hadn't she noticed this?!_

"Language," he scolded back, but there was no venom in his words.

"What the hell happened?"

Papyrus glanced at Frisk, then stared back at Undyne. He shrugged.

She enveloped both her friends in a tight, almost painful hug.

"Whatever it is, I'm sorry I didn't notice before," she said. Her sincerity was obvious.

They all hugged for a long while. When Undyne finally let go, Frisk spoke up.

"I think it's time I told you something important."

Frisk explained everything as the two monsters listened on. They talked about the resets, and their determination. They talked about getting different endings until their conscience got the better of them, and they stopped resetting. For good.

Undyne clearly understood that they must have done something very bad, but she pushed it out of her mind.

"Well, we got our happy ending. That's what matters!" She leaned in slightly. "But I'll kick your ass if you step outta line." Then she laughed, and lightly hit Frisk on the shoulder.

Papyrus was clearly still frazzled, but doing much better when Frisk first came in. He agreed to join the two downstairs after a moment to himself.

The door swung shut as he stood in the middle of his room. The skeleton glanced back at his closet, where he'd hidden a small, sharp knife. With a shake of his head, he turned back towards the door.

_Breathe in, breathe out._

He opened the door, greeted by loud music and, as he reached the bottom of the stairs, friendly faces grinning at him.

He could do this.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not super happy with this one, but I might as well post it.


End file.
